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BELLEVUE - Work begins next month on the first project in a $110 million riverfront building boom for this Campbell County city. The Ackerman Group, an Anderson Township developer, plans to begin demolishing buildings on 14 acres along Fairfield Avenue just east of the Riverboat Row restaurant district.

That will make room for an $80 million development called Harbor Greene that will include:

• 100 luxury condominiums with river views that will sell for up to $300,000.

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this is directly across the street from the house i lived in before i moved to oakley.

everything that the ackermann group does is absolute garbage. this project will be a disgrace as well. here are a couple renderings.

(i lived in the 11th house from the right at the top of the picture. my mom owns it and moved into it when we moved out. if she still has a view of the river, city, and mt. adams after this monstrosity gets built, she's going to restore it to a single family.

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yeah, you do have to feel for all the residents who are going to lose their views. That is one knock all of the NKY cities get, they all build tall right on the riverfront and block out everything else. Where did you find those renderings?

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grasscat, are you being facetious? the parking and overall suburban nature of the development are what bother me the most.

rather than integrate this into the existing grid, it's a self-contained "complex" with, from what i can see, only 3 possible entryways.

i got the renderings from the developers website, www.ackermanngroup.com . months ago, i called the company and asked them if they had any renderings available to the public. the lady i spoke with was far from accomodating, basically brushed me off, and took my phone number. needless to say, they never called back, but i found their website after a lot of searching.

the way i see it, until the ackermann group improves their building/design methods, they should stay out of the city and/or established neighborhoods.

Joanna Maehren lived for 15 years in Newport's trendy East Row Historic District, but she's moving into a newer Northern Kentucky hot spot for housing and small businesses: neighboring Bellevue. She is renovating four shabby apartments above the beadery into a single, nice apartment for her family. Maehren and her sister are not alone in betting on Bellevue.

Since the start of 2003, more than 800 homes have sold in the city that in 2003 had an estimated 6,138 residents, according to the Campbell County Property Valuation Administrator's office. "We currently have four developments happening in Bellevue that are residential developments, and they're upscale," said city administrator Don Martin.

Two riverfront projects are in the works:

• The Ackermann Group's $65 million Harbor Greene development east of the Buckhead Mountain Grill. It will feature 106 condominiums in three mid-rise buildings, all with river views. They will sell for $360,000 to $1 million - with penthouses going for $1.5 million. The development will include 90,000 square feet of office space; 15,000 square feet of retail space; a 10,000-square-foot development pad for a restaurant, and a 40,000-square-foot gym featuring a pool.

• The 24-unit Bellevue Waterfront Condominiums development at Taylor and Eden avenues. "That one is about 75 percent sold out already, and it's not up out of the ground," Martin said. "They range from $350,000 up to $900,000."

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If you like to watch local politicians turn over shovels of pre-dug earth...from the 10/19/04 Kentucky Post:

Bellevue complex breaks ground

Town homes and condos planned

Post staff report

The public is invited to attend the groundbreaking and unveiling of Bellevue's latest development project. The event will be held at 12:30 p.m. today on the riverfront at Taylor Avenue. In case of rain, it will be at the Envelope Printery, also at Taylor Avenue and the Ohio River.

The Donenfeld Group of Cincinnati has plans to develop 24 condos in the $350,000 to $800,000 price range. The project involves two, six-story condominium buildings along with six freestanding town homes. The rendering for the project will be unveiled at the ceremony.

"The project continues to grow our availability of new upscale housing to complement and diversify our existing stock of older, solidly built homes," Bellevue Mayor Jack Meyer said. The project is one of four in the works, or in the planning stage, for this river city. The most high profile is the $65 million Harbor Greene residential and commercial development along Fairfield Avenue, just west of the Donenfeld condo project.

The 24-unit Bellevue Waterfront Condominiums will have lots of glass facing the Ohio River and 650 square feet of outside terrace apiece, along with some of the other amenities prospective residents are likely used to, such as private, two-car garages.

"The main selling point has been that the size of the units is commensurate with the way our buyers have been living," said Jack Donenfeld, CEO of Cincinnati-based Donenfeld Group, which specializes in resort and condominium development in ski and waterfront areas, such as Telluride, Colo., and Naples, Fla.

"Many of our buyers are coming directly from their own homes," Donenfeld said. The buyers, a mix of empty-nesters and younger professionals from "Cincinnati and all over Northern Kentucky," are used to such amenities as their own garages and secure elevators that go directly into their living spaces, he said.

FLORENCE - As last-minute holiday shoppers sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic along Mall Road on Tuesday night, Florence city leaders moved forward with a plan to transform the road's aging retail strip into "the most contemporary downtown in America."

Retail adviser Stan Eichelbaum envisions a vibrant district of shops, homes, offices and entertainment called Florence City Center.

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i have so many opinions about this, i wouldn't even know where to begin.

until i see some actual plans/renderings/whatnot, i'll keep them to myself. i will say it sounds good for what it is, but it would take a lot of work and money to improve that disaster area. coining it "city center this" and "city center that" won't cut it.

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how timely. i was just in the process of gathering up a few folks to see if they wanted to put up a sign declaring rising sun, ohio "the most rural bump in the road in america." we too want to make this vision a reality.

Plans to reinvent Mall Road moved forward Tuesday, when Florence City Council approved a contract with its retail consultant.

Council unanimously approved a municipal order that authorizes Florence Mayor Diane Whalen to extend a contract with Stan Eichelbaum and his Cincinnati-based firm, Marketing Developments Inc., to conduct the next phase of the Mall Road Study, said Assistant City Coordinator Rick Lunnemann.